Tuesday, July 19, 2011

See Jane Run Half-Marathon Report

Sometimes I am an idiot. Witness Sunday when I "ran" the See Jane Run Half-Marathon. Why does this make me an idiot? Because I haven't been training at all. By at all I mean since February 12th when I pulled my calf-muscle (and still stupidly ran four miles) I have ran a grand total of...........wait for it............. 59.34 miles. Yeah that's right. In a five month period I have averaged 12 miles per month with the longest run being a four miler I did back in April. It is a bit of an understatement to say that makes me completely untrained and unfit for a half-marathon. But I went ahead and did it anyway.

Back in February when I agreed to run this race it seemed like a sure thing. I would have completed my marathon two months before and should be in great shape for a half. Plus, it was my friend Amber's idea to run this as a sort of last run of singledom since she would be getting married a mere five days after the run. It sounded like fun. Oh, if I only had a crystal ball and could see the three hours of suck that awaited me.

This was the hardest physical thing I have done. I was exhausted and hurting by the time I crossed the finish line three hours after I started. The race just went on and on and on. It was a push and a slog the whole way. I never felt good out there. Gee, wasn't my "training" sufficient?

I had set the Garmin to a 3:1 walk/run ratio so I could at least get some running in. No way did I want to walk the entire 13.1. I remembered how difficult it was to walk quickly for 13.1 from my Eugene experience and I didn't want to repeat that so I cobbled together this plan the day before. By the end of the run I was ready to chuck the friggin' Garmin into the Fremont Canal. Everytime it beeped to tell me to run for my one minute I cursed it; cursed it out loud on occasion. But onward I pushed.
My final time was 3:02 which was over 12 minutes faster then I did Eugene in May and was good for an even 14:00 minute mile pace. My times for the running portions were actually faster than they probably should have been and I tried to keep a decent walking pace. But there was no way I could have pressed faster to bring it in under three hours. Ouch.

I met Amber after the finish, grabbed my champagne glass filled with chocolates, declined Amber's offer of lunch and drove home. My legs were killing me and I felt like crap. Shooting pain from the sciatica down my right leg and soreness and stiffness everywhere else. I was so stiff getting out of the car that I had to barely shuffle for the first few steps until I could get my legs moving again. I knew how difficult walking and moving from sitting to standing was the day after Eugene and I didn't want that to happen again. So I immediately went upstairs and climbed in the tub and turned on the cold water faucet. Only the cold water by the way. Yes, I was desperate enough to take an ice bath. Kevin was kind enough to dump the contents of the ice maker into the tub with me and I soaked for 15 freezing minutes. He also brought me some Ibuprofen and then got a whole bunch of warm blankets on the bed to warm me back up when I was done. Good husband. I ran just enough water to cover my hips and very low back. No need to soak the non-running parts in ice water. I'm not that stupid. Oh, and the ice water triggered the uncontrollable cold water peeing so I am sitting in ice cold urine water seriously contemplating my choice of hobbies and how it has lead me to this moment. Awesome.

The ice bath and Ibuprofen worked. I was a little stiff that day and on Monday but nothing like after Eugene. I have vowed to not do a race like this again unless I am trained and prepared. I am lucky I didn't injure myself and I am not risking that again. Looking back over my running numbers for the year has also opened my eyes. I am determined to get myself back in shape and to complete a half-marathon this year; one I can actually be proud of. And I will also remember to pee before I ever climb into an ice bath again. Lessons were learned on Sunday.